Mark began to read, but he could not proceed far; his father got up
and went out, without saying a word, and his mother began to remove
the dinner-things.

But as soon as the family re-assembled in the evening, the father
said to Mark, "Go on with your reading, Mark, I want to hear the end,
for I like the story."

Mark read, and when he came to that part of the tract, in which the
Bible is mentioned, the vinedresser looked up to a high shelf on the
wall, where were some old books, and said, "wife, had we not once a
Bible?"

"Fifteen years ago," she answered, "you exchanged it for a pistol."

The vinedresser blushed, and listened with out farther interruption
until Mark had done reading. When the tract was finished, he remained
silent, his head leaning on his hands, and his elbows on his knees.
Josephine thought this was the time to speak about the Bible, which
she had so long wished to possess, and she went up to her father, and
stood for some time by his side without speaking.

Her father perceived her, and raising his head, he said to her,
"What do you want, Josephine, tell me, my child, what do you want to
ask me?"

"Dear papa," said the child, "I have long desired to read the Bible,
would you be so kind as to buy me one?"